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Deficit of Prepulse Inhibition in Mice Caused by Dietary n‐3 Fatty Acid Deficiencies.
Author(s) -
Fedorova Irina,
Hussein Nahed,
Salem Norman
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.687.1
Subject(s) - prepulse inhibition , docosahexaenoic acid , polyunsaturated fatty acid , eicosapentaenoic acid , homovanillic acid , endocrinology , medicine , chemistry , agonist , dopamine , fatty acid , serotonin , biochemistry , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , receptor , psychiatry
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n‐3) is the most abundant polyunsaturated fatty acid in the brain and plays an important role in learning and memory. It was shown that profound DHA deficiency led to modification in dopamine and serotonin systems. Prepulse inhibition is deficient in psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and can be disrupted in animals by dopamine and serotonin agonist administration. DHA and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n‐3) are biosynthesized from α‐linolenic acid (LNA, 18:3n‐3), a shorter chain n‐3 fatty acid precursor or obtained with a diet. Sensorimotor gating was measured by prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response in C57Bl6 mice. Mice were fed for two generations four diets with different levels of n‐3 fatty acids: n‐3 deficient, containing 0.07% of LNA; low LNA (0.38% of total fatty acids); high LNA (4.8%); and high n‐3 diet, containing 0.38% of LNA, 2% DHA and 2% EPA. N‐3 deficient and low LNA diets caused a substantial deficit in PPI compared to the high n‐3 diet, whereas the high LNA diet induced a less pronounced, but significant PPI reduction. These are the first data that differentiate in rodents the effects of a high LNA diet from one with added EPA/DHA. The rather small increment in brain DHA content is thus associated with a functional difference manifested in sensorimotor behavior.